Read full description of the books Mister Sandman:

The story of a family set in 50s-70s Canada; this unconventional family - closet homosexual Gordon; wild, lying Doris; brilliant, promiscuous Marcy; slow, overweight, happy Sonja; and genius, brain-damaged, beautiful, talented Joan - struggles with love, openness and honesty until Joan opens their eyes.

Recommended by Margaret Atwood and by Salon.com, this story had me expecting to be as spellbound as I was when reading Geek Love. However, despite the book's interesting perspective and plot line, the effort seemed a bit uneven. I took the sexual proclivities of all the characters to be an unconventional device that would allow comparison across the same playing field - none were what we'd call "normal" and by writing this from a sexual perspective Gowdy forced the reader to confront what he or she viewed "normal" sexual activity (or lack thereof). This had the effect of both being somewhat shocking but also eventually forcing a look inwards, especially as the Canary family is so likable! Gowdy does some brilliant work here - one example is Marcy's promiscuity, which literaly means that she generally doesn't discriminate; after a bit of trial and error, she moves from one partner to another before any hearts are broken - she is free w/ love - she doesn't withhold based on history, age, past, etc (but she does appreicate the cute ones).

However, the book feels a bit off balance. There are awkward sentences all over the book - I found myself having to re-read sections to figure out who "he" was and who "she" was; many of the metaphors were also awkward (too, a few were brilliant) but it caused me to mentally stumble, an uncomfortable situation for the reader.

Read information about the author

Barbara Gowdy is the author of seven books, including Helpless, The Romantic, The White Bone, Mister Sandman, We So Seldom Look on Love and Falling Angels, all of which have met with widespread international acclaim. A three-time finalist for The Governor General’s Award, two-time finalist for The Scotia Bank Giller Prize, The Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, winner of the Marian Engel Award and The Trillium Book Prize, Gowdy has been longlisted for The Man Booker Prize. She has been called “a miraculous writer” by the Chicago Tribune, and in 2005 Harper’s magazine described her as a “terrific literary realist” who has “refused to subscribe to worn-out techniques and storytelling methods.” Born in Windsor, Ontario, she lives in Toronto.